BASKETBALL – Bahrain muscled their way into the quarter-finals of the boys’ 3x3 basketball tournament last night in the third Asian Youth Games.
The quartet of Hassan Abdulkadir, Somto Patrick Onoduenyi, Yousif Yaqoob Meshael, and Sergej Scekic secured first place in Pool B of their competition’s preliminary round after overpowering China 21-14 yesterday at the Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) Arena in Um Al Hassam Sports Complex.
The result earned the home team their third win in as many games as they marched through to the knockouts, which will be held today, beginning with the round of eight.
The Bahrainis are set to take on Saudi Arabia in their opening elimination fixture.
Also advancing from Pool B were the Chinese, who are set to face off with Pool D winners Iran in the boys’ quarters.
The other match-ups in this stage see Pool A table-toppers Mongolia play Uzbekistan, and Pool C victors Qatar take on Chinese Taipei.
The boys’ quarter-finals are scheduled to begin from 11.50am today morning at the BBA Arena.
The semis will follow from 4.25pm, and then the bronze medal contest will take place at 5.55pm.
The boys’ gold medal clash is scheduled for a 6.45pm start.
All are welcome to attend. Entrance is free of charge.
In Bahrain’s win yesterday against their Chinese counterparts, Abdulkadir and Onoduenyi were dominant in the paint, using their size and strength advantage and often rattling the rim with their emphatic slam dunks – exciting the crowd.
The two teams battled for much of the opening seven minutes but after China got to within 11-13 with the final three minutes remaining, the Bahrainis took full control with a game-ending 8-3 rally.
Abdulkadir sparked their run with a basket and then Meshael fired in from beyond the arc to make it 16-11.
Four straight points by Abdulkadir – two of them on dunks – then put Bahrain one basket away from the 21-point target.
That was eventually delivered by Scekic from the free-throw line, as he was on the receiving end of a number of hard fouls from their opponents.
Abdulkadir had a game-high 13 points on a red hot 11-for-13 shooting in the contest.
Onoduenyi and Meshael chipped in with three points apiece, with Scekic scoring two.
Shengbin Yao paced China in their only loss of the opening phase with seven markers.
Meanwhile, in the girls’ 3x3 basketball competition, Thailand finished their preliminaries as the only undefeated team to top Pool B.
They won all six of their games, including an 18-13 triumph over Sri Lanka followed by a 15-9 win over India yesterday.
The Thais thus spearheaded the cast of girls’ quarter-finalists, who will also be taking to the half-court today at BBA Arena.
Thailand will take on Kazakhstan in their elimination head-to-head today, while in the other games, Pool A winners China face Sri Lanka, Iran take on India, and Chinese Taipei play Indonesia.
Today is the final day of the 3x3 basketball competitions in the third Asian Youth Games.
The girls’ quarters are scheduled for an 11am start, to be followed by the semi-finals from 3.35pm.
The bronze medal match is set for 5.30pm, and then the girls’ gold medal game will be played at 6.20pm.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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